Mirror God’s Glory
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another,
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 NRSVUE
How many of you looked in a mirror this morning? You’re so vain. Unless you own the “mirror, mirror on the wall” and are a wicked queen, I’m going to venture that the purpose you looked at the mirror was not to admire the shape of the mirror or how well placed the mirror looked on the wall or even how clean and shiny it was. Rather, your purpose in looking at the mirror was probably to comb your hair, put on make-up, adjust your tie, or just make sure you looked good… Am I right? We’re so vain.
Now, there are some mirrors that, in today’s decorating schemes, accent a wall; but a mirror’s first and primary purpose and function is to receive and reflect an image. Do you know that the first and primary purpose you and I have is to receive and reflect an image? In Genesis 1:26-27 we read that God created humankind “in the image of God.” When I look at you, I’m supposed to see God. When you look at me, you’re supposed to see God. We are supposed to mirror God!
It can be kind of hard to see God in people; in some people it seems almost impossible. Why? Sin. It’s not that the image of God is gone. It’s still there, but God’s image has been skewed and dirtied and marred and stained. Paul says, sin is like a veil; it keeps God and His glory from coming into our lives and therefore keeps us from reflecting God and His glory out to others. How does that veil get removed? How can we again return to our first and primary purpose? “Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16). At Pentecost, Peter told the crowd to repent and be baptized. Repent means to turn around and go back. Baptize means to wash. Paul and Peter say the same thing. Turn back to God and get washed, have the dirt and stain of sin removed.
It’s important that we notice who does what. I am not aware of any mirror that can clean itself. Peter says to “be washed” and Paul says, “the veil is taken away.” Once we submit to God, God does the removing, God does the cleaning. Only then we can mirror God; “only in Christ is [the veil] taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:14). When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God washes away our sin and we again become able to function in our first and primary purpose: to “with unveiled faces all [mirror] the Lord’s glory.”
But what does it mean to “mirror” the glory of God? The Greek word translated mirror can mean to reflect or to look at, as in behold or contemplate. So, which is it? Do we take in God’s glory or send it out? Paul reminds the Corinthian believers of the time Moses saw and took in, as it were, the Glory of God. How could he not? Moses spent 40 days with God on Mount Sinai receiving instructions on how to be God’s chosen people. And after Moses returned to the people, his face was so dazzling that the people could no more look at his face than stare into the sun. So, Moses put a veil over his face. Only when he shared God’s instructions with the people did he remove the veil.
I believe that the Holy Spirit directed Paul to use the Greek word he did because we need both; we need to receive in order to reflect. Once the veil of sin has been removed, we are to behold God’s glory by spending time with God, reading His word, talking to Him in prayer and walking with Him throughout the day so intentionally that we can’t help but reflect God’s glory.
Some of you may be saying to yourselves, “DS, I have a confession to make. I don’t make a very good mirror sometimes. I’ve given my life to Jesus. I’ve accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I’ve repented of my sins and I know that God has washed me clean. But I must not be staying clean or something because I know people don’t always see God in me.” I know what you mean. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try mirrors just don’t want to be clean. Debbi spends a lot of time trying to clean the mirrors in our house; sometimes nothing you do will get those streaks out. As Christians we are like those stubborn mirrors.
As Methodists we believe that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior God washes us clean and looks at us from that moment on as if we had never sinned. That’s when we can begin to reflect God and God’s glory. But so long as we live on this earth, we are prone to sin. As one of our favorite hymns suggest, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” It’s as if we keep getting dirty or keep putting a veil over our faces.
However, our salvation is not a one-time thing but an ongoing process. Paul reminds us, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” God continues to work in us so that we reflect Him better and better as we behold him more and more. This is because the more we behold God, are with God, and absorb God the more the image of God, that we were created to have and be, can be restored. I like how the Jerusalem Bible translates this verse: “And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit.”
And to what end, what purpose are we to mirror God? The primary purpose of a mirror in our home is see a reflection. When I look into a mirror, I want to see myself, usually to make sure my hair is combed, I haven’t left any toothpaste on my chin, or that my tie is on straight. As one who bears the image of God, there are times when I wonder what God sees when he looks in me as mirror. Do I shine back like God shines? I remember the sit-com “Happy Days” when Fonzie pulls out a comb and looks in a mirror and then steps back and with his hands out and a thumb up and says, “Aaaaye.” I long for the day when God will look at me and does the same.
But there is another purpose we have as mirror.
G.R. Tweed looked across the Pacific waters at the American ship on the horizon. Brushing the jungle sweat from his eyes, the young naval officer swallowed deeply and made his decision. This could be his only chance for escape.
Tweed had been hiding on Guam for nearly 3 years. When the Japanese occupied the island in 1941, he ducked into the thick tropical brush. Survival hadn’t been easy, but he preferred the swamp to a POW camp.
Late in the day July 10, 1944, he spotted a friendly vessel. He scurried up a hill and positioned himself on a cliff. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a small mirror. At 6:20 pm, he began sending signals. Holding the edge of the mirror in his fingers, he tilted it back and forth, bouncing the sunrays in the direction of the boat. Three short flashes, three long, three short. Dot-dot-dot. Dash-dash-dash. Dot-dot-dot. SOS.
The signal caught the eye of a sailor on board the USS McCall. A rescue party boarded a motorized dingy and slipped into the cove past the coastal guns. Tweed was rescued.
Tweed used the mirror to reflect the sun and signal for help. God uses us to reflect the Son, Jesus, to signal to those in need of rescuing that help is available. You’ve heard it said, “You’re the only Jesus some will ever see.” Are you reflecting the Son? Will others see God in you? God is the source; we are the glass. God is the light; we are the mirrors. God sends the message; we mirror it. It’s not about us; it’s all about God.
Is there something in your life that is keeping God’s image from being seen? “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). And remember, we “are being transformed into [Jesus’] likeness with ever increasing glory.” That way we will be able to shine the light of God’s love into the darkness and shadows of others’ lives so that God’s image might shine in and from them, too.
With you on this Journey. DS John